Scheifele suspended four games for hit on Habs’ Evans

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This article was published 02/06/2021 (1305 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mark Scheifele, the Winnipeg Jets No. 1 centre and leading scorer, will not play Friday against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 2 of their second-round series and could be potentially done for the Jets playoff run.

Scheifele, following a phone hearing with the NHL’s department of player safety Thursday afternoon, was suspended four games for a controversial hit on Canadiens forward Jake Evans in Game 1 Wednesday. He can continue to practise with the team and will be able to return for Game 6 on Fri., June 11, in Montreal — assuming the series goes that far.

With seconds remaining in the game, Evans was retrieving the puck behind the Jets empty net and just as he was wrapping it into the open cage to seal a 5-3 victory, Scheifele delivered a crushing blow that appeared to knock him unconscious upon contact. As Evans lay motionless, Scheifele was assessed a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct.

“It is also important to note that we have heard Scheifele’s argument that he gathers speed and maintains momentum in order to make a legitimate defensive play and attempt to prevent a goal from being scored. However, as Evans comes around the net with the puck, Scheifele does not attempt to make a play on the puck with his stick. Instead, he takes one hand off his stick, turns his shoulder and loads up for contact. While players are not required to attempt to play the puck, on this play Scheifele’s choice to not make a play on the puck tells us that he is conceding the empty-net goal,” the NHL’s department of player safety noted, in part, in its video breaking down the hit and reason for suspension.

“This is also not a mere collision between two players attempting to occupy the same space on the ice. Instead, it is apparent to our department that his intention on this point is to deliver a hard, violent check to one opponent, with the outcome of both the play and the game already having been decided. In short, this is a player who has travelled a considerable distance, is moving with exceptional speed and is fully aware of his momentum, who chooses to charge into a vulnerable opponent with a high, predatory hit that causes an injury.”

Another consideration in determing the suspension was the fact Scheifele is a first-time offender, having not been suspended over his 575 games in the NHL.

Emotions continued to boil over while Evans was stretchered off the ice, with the two teams exchanging verbal jousts. The war of words extended into the post-game interviews, with Montreal defenceman Joel Edmundson ultimately saying if the NHL didn’t take care of it then they would, by “making his life miserable.”

With Scheifele possibly able to return before the end of the series, only time will tell what exactly Edmundson was alluding to and what the Canadiens plan is for vigilante justice. Until then, a debate as to whether the hit has a place in the game will surely rage on.

There are two sides that have clearly taken form. There are those that believe although the result was far from ideal, what transpired was simply part of playing a physical and sometimes violent game. The other side, of course, questions the need for Scheifele to deliver such a crushing blow, adding it seemed like a clear motive to injure, and wonder why he didn’t instead try harder to intercept the puck from going in.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice didn’t mince words when asked for his opinion, although it’s fair to say he wasn’t exactly in a desirable position. He hadn’t heard word of the suspension yet, and was clearly in the corner of one of his marquee players.

He called it a “heavy, heavy hit, for sure, but it was clean” and agreed with the reporter’s suggestion that opinions are often going to depend on what team you cheer for.

“Our guy made a hit. It won them the game. Move on,” Maurice said, later adding: “For me, the feet are on the ice, the arms are tucked in and it’s a body contact. That’s the way I see it.”

Predictably, teammates Andrew Copp and Josh Morrissey, both of whom are very close friends with Scheifele, were supportive, if only a bit more diplomatic, likely not wanting to add any additional fuel to the Canadiens’ fire. They said Scheifele isn’t the kind of player to want to intentionally injure someone, while also expressing their concern for Evans and the overall situation.

Evans was evaluated in the visitor’s locker room but was able to join his teammates on the bus back to the hotel. He’ll miss Friday’s game, ruled out indefinitely with a concussion.

“You just don’t want anyone to be injured like that,” Morrissey said. “When something like that happens, regardless of the play, if you’re his teammate, you’re going to want to protect him and stand up for him. I understand that side of it from their team.”

Copp was asked about the divide between the responsibility on the player to prevent putting himself in a vulnerable position and being sure not to take advantage of a someone who might be unable to defend himself. What Evans did was risky in any situation where contact is allowed, but with the way the game is changing — getting safer, more emphasis on skill — the counter is Scheifele couldn’t have possibly thought he was going to prevent the goal from happening and therefore should have let up.

Both remain up for interpretation.

“In a general sense it’s on both guys in terms of when someone is in a vulnerable position that you make sure that your shoulder’s down, you hit through the chest, and you don’t hit him in the head, you don’t hit him late,” Copp said. “And then, when you’re the player, you really don’t want to put yourself in a vulnerable situation to get hit like that or giving the guy an opportunity to hurt you.”

He added: “For Scheif, it kind of looked like it hit him through the chest. But the league will have their say on it and so I’m probably not going to comment anymore on it.”

With the absence of Scheifele for the next four games, the Jets have a massive hole to fill in their lineup. No one on offence averages more ice time, with Scheifele earning top-line minutes and being an integral part on the team’s No. 1 power play.

Even with Paul Stastny still a question mark after missing Game 1 and also absent from Thursday’s workout with the same undisclosed injury, the Jets have options. Copp is a natural centre and Blake Wheeler also has experience playing down the middle, which he did as recently as last season when Bryan Little went down with a head injury.

Thursday’s practice was optional, with a number of key players choosing to sit out, meaning answers as to what lines the Jets might counter with are still to be determined. Making up just one of a number of questions for what we’ll see in Game 2 Friday.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca twitter: @jeffkhamilton